Treating drum



'Feb. 11, 1969 c. PltLARD TREATING DRUM Filed Aug. 17, 1967 C. PILLARD TREATING DRUM Feb. '11; 1969 Filed Aug. 17, 1967 Feb. 11, 1969 c. PlLLAR D TREATING DRUM Sheet 3 of 5 Filed Aug. 17, 1967 United States Patent US. Cl. 69-30 6 Claims Int. Cl. C14c /00; D06f 37/04 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A rotary tanning drum having a cylindrical shell and end walls mounting the drum for rotation provided with a transverse vertical partition wall adjacent one end wall to form a false end section, said false end section being divided into two unequal communicating compartments by a plate between the partition wall and the end wall, aperture means between the main drum section and the smaller compartment and drain means to the outside of the drum from the larger compartment whereby upon rotation of the drum in one direction the liquid in the drum will be drained by passage through the partition wall apertures, the small compartment, the large compartment and drain means, but, upon reverse rotation, there is no drainage of the liquid in the drum.

The present invention relates to treating drums, namely, those for fulling hides, of the type comprising a cylinder having a horizontal axis and closed at both ends by vertical walls, While the line supplying the treating or rinsing liquid opens axially into said cylinder through at least one of the hubs thereof. It is necessary to stop such drums each time they are to be emptied and rinsed. As a matter of fact, in order to perform said operations, the solid door on said cylinder must be replaced by a perforated door, through which the treating liquid or the rinsing liquid flows out after the drum is restarted.

Stopping the cylinder repeatedly and changing the door thereof results in time losses, which reduce substantially the performance of the plant. Furthermore, it is difficult to effect said operations automatically, so that the latter prevent the hide treatment from being automatized.

The present invention aims at obviating such drawbacks. To this end, it relates to a treating drum of the abovementioned type, which drum is provided near one of its ends with an inner vertical partition wall, which is partly solid, said wall and the nearest outer vertical wall forming together a false end, said two walls being connected by a transverse plate which divides said false end into two separate compartments of unequal size communicating with each other by means of an opening provided at one of the ends of said transverse plate, the smaller compartment communicating with the central portion of the drum proper via a sector of its inner vertical wall, which sector is bounded by the other end of said transverse plate, while the larger compartment is provided with an outlet symmetrical with the abovementioned sector and located as near as possible to the closed end of said transverse plate.

Said arrangement allows, depending on the direction of rotation of the drum, either the treating of materials in the cylinder without discharging any treating liquid, or rinsing and emptying said drums.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the partitioning transverse plate is positioned outside the diametral plane, and the length of said plate is less than the corresponding chord, so as to provide between the free end of said plate and the corresponding portion of the cylinder the opening connecting ments of the false end.

Furthermore, the communicating means connecting the drum and the smaller compartment of the false end cover an area at the utmost equal to half that of said smaller compartment.

Said sector of communication is obtained either by a netting added over an opening provided in the inner vertical wall, or by perforations provided in said wall, or else by any other means letting the liquid pass, while holding back the materials being treated.

With a view to doubling the flow of treating or rinsing liquid, or to provide other possible uses of the apparatus, the shaft section located on the side of the false end is hollow, and passes tightly through said false end and opens into the drum proper.

The invention will now be described in further detail, with reference to the appended diagrammatic drawing, which illustrates, by way of non-limiting example, two embodiments of a hide treating drum. In said drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view, partly in section, of a first embodiment of said treating drum;

FIGURE 2 is a front view, in vertical section, of a second embodiment of same;

FIGURES 3 to 10 are sectional views along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2., which illustrate the operating principle of the drum of the invention.

Said drum comprises a cylindrical shell 2, having a horizontal axis and closed at both ends by vertical walls 3, 4. It is carried by two shaft sections 5a, 5b, which are welded to the centers of the walls 3, 4, and journaled in bearings 6.

According to the invention, said drum is provided internally with a further vertical wall 7, which is associated with the nearer vertical end wall, that is, in the present example, the wall 3, to form a tight false end.

A plate 8 disposed transversely in said false end outside the diametral plane of the drum, defines two separate compartments in said false end, that is, a small compartmentA and a large compartment B.

The length of said plate 8 is shorter than that of the corresponding chord of the drum, but longer than that of the corresponding radius, so as to form an opening 9 between said two compartments.

The small compartment A is defined by the vertical Wall 3, the partitioning plate 8, the shell 2, and the vertical wall 7. Perforations 10 are provided in a well-defined area or sector of said latter wall. Said area may have any shape whatever, but should be at the most equal to half that area of the wall 7 which is included in the compartment A. In the present example, said sector is defined by the plate 8 and an imaginary radius X'X.

An opening 12 is provided in the portion of the shell 2 corresponding to the compartment B, opposite the perforations 10 with respect to the plate 8. A door 13 for putting the hides into the fulling plant 14 and withdrawing them therefrom is disposed along the same generatrix as said opening 12.

Said treating drum is rotated by any known means adapted to make it rotate in both directions.

The operation of said apparatus is as follows:

The fulling drum 14 is filled to the level 15 by the treating liquid flowing through the shaft section 5b, which, to this end, is hollow. The drum is then rotated in the direction of the arrow 16 of FIGURE 3.

As soon as the perforations 10 reach the level 15 of the treating liquid contained in the fulling drum 14, said liquid passes through said perforations and flows into the compartment A of the false end, as shown in FIGURE 3, till its level is identical with that 15 of the liquid contained in the fulling drum, as shown in FIGURE 4. Then,

the two compartas the rotary motion proceeds, the plate 8 passes beyond its horizontal position and acts as a paddle, as shown in FIGURE 5, to reduce the quantity of liquid contained in the compartment A of said false end. Said liquid passes again into the fulling drum 14 through the perforations 10 as said plate 8 rotates, so that, when said plate lies completely above the level 15, all the liquid is back in the fulling drum 14, as shown in FIGURE 6.

On the other hand, when the treating drum rotates in the direction of the arrow 17 of FIGURES 7, 8, 9, and 10, the travel of the treating liquid is ditferent.

As a matter of fact, as previously mentioned, as soon as the perforations 10 reach the height of the level 15, the treating or rinsing liquid passes through said perforations and into the small compartment A of the false end, but, as soon as the plate 8 passes beyond the horizontal, said liquid enters the compartment B through the opening 9, as shown in FIGURE 8. Then, as the rotary motion goes on, the compartment A of the false end empties itself completely into the compartment B, while the perforations reach a level above the level 15, and the opening 12 comes nearer to said level 15, as shown in FIGURE 9.

When said opening 12 reaches the same horizontal plane asthe level 15, the liquid contained in the compartment B'escapes through said opening, while the compartment A starts fillingagain, as shown in FIGURE 10.

Thus, by means of the arrangement of the invention, it is possible to treat the hides and to empty the fulling drum 14 successively, without any handling, merely by reversing the direction of rotation of the treating drum.

According to a preferred embodiment shown in FIG- URE 2, and in order to double the flow of treating or rinsing liquid entering the fulling drum, the shaft section 18 located on the side of the false end is advantageously hollow.

Said shaft section 18, Welded at 19 to the vertical wall 3, is also welded at 20 to the vertical wall 7, so that it directly feeds the inside of the fulling drum 14.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle of my invention and have described what I now consider to represent its best embodiments. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What I claim is:

1. A rotary treating drum for hides comprising a cylindrical shell closed at both ends by solid end walls, shaft means mounting said drum for rotation on a horizontal axis, one of said shaft means being hollow for supplying liquids into said drum, a vertical partition wall adjacent one end of said drum to form a false end, a transverse plate extending between-said partition wall and said one end wall, said plate dividing said false end into two unequal compartments, said plate being joined to said cylindrical shell at one end thereof, a passage between the said two compartments at the other end of said transverse plate, the partition wall at the end of the smaller compartment opposite the passage to the larger compartment being provided with aperture means connecting said smaller compartment with the main portion of the drum, and a drain outlet in the cylindrical shell portion of the larger compartment closely adjacent the junction of said plate with said shell;

2. A treating drum according to claim 1, wherein said dividing transverse plate is located outside the diametral plane of said drum.

3. A treating drum according to claim 1 wherein said transverse plate has a free end spaced from said cylindrical shell to form said passage between said two compartments.

4. A treating drum according to claim 1 wherein said apertures means connecting the drum and the smaller compartment of said false end cover an area of less than half that of said smaller compartment.

5. A treating drum according to claim 1 wherein said aperture means are perforations in said partition wall.

6. A treating drum according to claim 1 wherein said one shaft means comprises a shaft section disposed on the side of said false end, which is hollow, and passes tightly through said false end so as to open directly into the main portion of said drum.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 242,954 6/ 1881 Michel et al. 69-30 2,370,285 2/ 1945 Beede et al. 3,164,002. 1/1965 Rossi 6930 FOREIGN PATENTS 21,131 8/1905 Austria. 147,479 1922 Great Britain.

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner.

ALFRED R. GUEST, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

